KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor is now a high-income state, said World Bank lead economist for Malaysia Apurva Sanghi.
In a tweet, he said Selangor had surpassed the high-income threshold of US$14,000, reaching gross national income (GNI) per state capita of US$14,291.
Selangor now joins the ranks of Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sarawak and Labuan.
Apurva said Kuala Lumpur had the highest GNI per capita at US$29,967, measured using GNI per capita in US dollars.
The latest GNI is usually revealed on July 1 based on the previous year's number.
Apurva said he predicted that the country would reach high-income status by 2030.
In a post on X on July 4, he said this projection depended on how the ringgit performed against the US dollar.
"Malaysia is still in the upper middle-income bracket, but could attain high-income status by 2030 if the ringgit to US dollar exchange rate stays at the current rate, around RM4.70 to US$1.
"This, however, would also depend on the percentage of the average growth that stays at 4 per cent and an inflation of about 2 per cent in 2030."
He said Malaysia's GNI per capita rose slightly from US$11,830 in 2022 to US$11,970 in July 2023, yet it remained US$2,035 below the threshold for high-income nation status.
Apurva said high income did not necessarily mean high development.
Citing Sarawak as an example, he said although the state had high-income status, it also had a poverty rate of 10.8 per cent in 2022.
"In contrast, Perlis, which does not have high-income status, has a low poverty rate of 4 per cent."